NORWALK — The day before the Zoning Commission readied to vote on a proposal to change zoning to allow a 12-pump Cumberland Farms on the intersection of Main and West Main Streets, the plan has been withdrawn.

“I heard it from Zoning staff directly,” said Historic Commission Chairman David Westmoreland, who had spoke out against the proposal.

After the gas station drew controversy at last month’s Zoning Commission hearing, the proposal was sent back to committee. The commissioners present at the committee discussion on Dec. 7 had a straw poll on the subject, and five out out of the six did not favor the plan.

“I’m happy to hear that City Hall and the city of Norwalk has heard and listened to the residents and how we expressed our concerns for the neighborhood, as well as for the city that we value,” said Nyokee Goodwin, whose family has lived on West Main Street for over 50 years.

It wasn’t clear Tuesday if the Cumberland Farms plan will be resubmitted later.

In the meantime, Tod Bryant, of the Norwalk Preservation Trust, and Renee Dobos, of Mutual Housing of Southwest Connecticut, were in the beginning stages of finding an alternate plan for the site. Bryant said they had found a path for a developer to turn the site into affordable housing within its current zoning restrictions.

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“It would still allow the owners of the property to make a profit,” Bryant said Tuesday afternoon, though he warned, “This is very preliminary. There are a lot of things that would have to come together to make it work.”

The plan involves restoring the existing four Victorian homes, one of which falls in the Pudding Lane Historic District, as two-family residences. In addition, the plan envisioned eight new units — four on the contractor’s yard at 127 Main St. and another four replacing the existing commercial building on 131 Main St. Bryant believed 16 units were the most that could fit on the land under the existing height, parking and recreation requirements.

The attorney representing the project could not be reached for comment. However, in the past, his client Gregory Genuario had voiced concerns about the costs of renovating and restoring the buildings.

“The costs to maintain all of the buildings far outweigh rental income coming in,” Genuario wrote the Zoning Commission on Nov. 13. “We simply do not have the funds required to renovate and restore the buildings.”

Bryant and Dobos confirmed no financial analysis has been conducted yet. “We literally started talking a week ago,” Dobos said. But Bryant hopes to use historic district to make the rehabilitation tax credits available to the homes.

“Right now, only one house is eligible for state historic rehabilitation tax credits,” said Bryant — the Purinton-Hill House at 129 Main St., which is part of the Pudding Lane Historic District. “But we would pursue either expanding the existing state register district or creating a new state or federal register district and make them all eligible for those credits.”

State tax credits can cover 30 percent of construction costs, and federal tax credits can cover 20 percent of both construction and labor costs. Properties can be eligible for both.

Dobos said if the project was viable, Mutual Housing of Southwest Connecticut would be interested in purchasing the property.

“We’ve made a commitment that we will try to preserve this housing because that’s what we do,” she said. “When we go into an area like that, and we can restore some housing and create some affordable housing, we’re restoring the neighborhood. We have 15 developments throughout Fairfield County. And every one of our developments are affordable housing. It’s our mission.”

As Bryant stood outside of the site, plan in hand, worried neighbors who had not heard the proposal was being withdrawn stopped to ask him if he knew what would happen at Wednesday’s hearing.

One was Hakam Sedda, who had spoken at the previous Zoning Commission hearing against the proposal. He pointed out the irony of the corner possibly being rezoned to allow a gas station, unzipping his jacket to show a gray Shell gas shirt underneath. “I’ve been working in gas stations for six years,” he said.

Last year, he heard a rumor that someone was going to build a development on the corner. “I thought it was a good thing,” he said. But he said from his experience managing a gas station, he would never had bought his home had he known it could have been across the street from one.

So when it came to Bryant’s alternate plan, Sedda said simply: “I hope. I hope.”